E-Magazine July – September, 2017
New Delhi, 4th October 2017: ONGC Videsh Limited (ONGC Videsh), a wholly owned subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) has completed the acquisition of 30% Participating Interest in Namibia Petroleum Exploration License 0037 for Blocks 2112A, 2012B and 2113B and related agreements (License), Offshore Namibia from Tullow Namibia Limited (Tullow), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tullow Oil plc. Tullow with remaining 35% Participating interest shall continue to remain the operator of the License. Pancontinental Namibia (Pty) Limited with 30% Participating interest and Paragon Oil and Gas (Pty) Limited with 5% Participating interest are other partners in the License.
The completion of the present transaction marks ONGC Videsh entry in Namibian offshore and is consistent with its strategic objective of adding high impact exploration and production assets to its existing E&P portfolio.
About ONGC Videsh
ONGC Videsh is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), the National Oil Company of India, and is India’s largest international oil and gas Company. After this acquisition, ONGC Videsh now has 39 projects in 18 countries including Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Mozambique, Myanmar, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, Venezuela, Vietnam and New Zealand. ONGC Videsh is currently producing about 267,000 barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas per day and has total oil and gas reserves (2P) of about 704 MMTOE as on 1st April, 2017. For more information visit: www.ongcvidesh.com
About ONGC
ONGC’s market capitalization as on 3rd October 2017 was INR 2190 billion (US$ 33.41 billion). During the financial year ended 31st March, 2017, ONGC Group had produced 61.60 MMTOE of oil and oil equivalent gas (approx. 1.26 MMboe per day); the Consolidated Gross Turnover was INR 1,421 billion (US$ 21 billion) during FY’17 and total consolidated oil and gas reserves were 1,818 MMTOE as on 31st March 2017. For more information visit: www.ongcindia.com
ONGC Videsh organized a workshop on “Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Work Place” on 19th Sep, 2017 at Delhi for its employees. The workshop was conducted by M/s Cosmopolitan plus, an NGO empaneled by Ministry of Women & Child Development for this purpose. The objective of the workshop was to explain and familiarize participants with the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace ( Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal ) Act, 2013 and to disseminate information to help create a clean and safe working environment.
Director (Operations) inaugurating the workshop
The program was inaugurated by Shri P.K Rao, Director (Operations), ONGC Videsh. In his inaugural address, Director (Operations) emphasized on need of this program to create awareness about the legal, social and moral perspective of the issue. He stressed on the need to understand the dynamics of the working environment where both men and women employees are treated with equal respect and the need to have a stress-free and exploitation free safe work environment.
Attentive audience
The faculty, Mr Raj Kamal Gupta, opened the workshop by explaining to the house the meaning of sexual harassment as defined by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in 1997 (Visakha Guidelines) and the subsequent Act which came into force in 2013. Relevant audio-visual clips were shown to make the audience appreciate the acceptable and non-acceptable behavior and maintenance of proper conduct at workplace. The provisions of the Act under consideration and the existing mechanism present for redressal of such complaints was also explained.
The workshop saw wholehearted participation by the audience who were even given on-the spot prizes by the faculty for correct answers. It was attended by the members of Internal Complaints Committee also. The inquisitive audience had many queries which were well fielded by the faculty. This participative nature of the program invigorated the audience who cleared the evaluation designed by the faculty with flying colors who were awarded Certificates of participation by the NGO.
Evaluation in progress
This workshop which was organized by HR team will help in maintaining a healthy and a stress free work environment for all and sensitize the employees about redressal mechanism available.
HR Team
New Delhi – ONGC Videsh Limited announced that the Consortium partners of the giant ACG Fields in Azerbaijan have entered into an agreement with Azerbaijan Government and State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) for extension of duration of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for Azeri-Chirag-Deep water portion of Gunashli (ACG) oil fields until December 31, 2049. ONGC Videsh Limited, the subsidiary of the Indian flagship Oil and natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) holds a participating interest in ACG oil fields in the Azerbaijan Sector of Caspian Sea. The other partners in the Consortium are BP, Chevron, INPEX, Statoil, ExxonMobil, TPAO and ITOCHU. The agreement is subject to ratification by the Parliament (Milli Majlis) of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The agreement was signed in Baku on 14th September, 2017 in the presence of H.E. President Ilham Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan and a group of visiting senior government and state officials, by Rovnag Abdullayev, President of SOCAR, on behalf of the Azerbaijan Government, and by the representatives of the co-venture companies, including ONGC Videsh Limited. Ambassador of India to Azerbaijan Mr. Sanjay Rana was also present in the signing ceremony.
As part of the agreement, the international co-venturers will pay a bonus of $3.6 billion to the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and SOCAR will increase its equity share in the ACG PSA from 11.65 per cent to 25 per cent. Following completion of the agreement, the new ACG participating interests will be: BP, 30.37 per cent; AzACG (SOCAR), 25.00 per cent; Chevron, 9.57 per cent; INPEX, 9.31 per cent; Statoil, 7.27 per cent; ExxonMobil, 6.79 per cent; TPAO, 5.73 per cent; ITOCHU, 3.65 per cent; and ONGC Videsh Limited, 2.31 per cent. ONGC Videsh’s share of the total bonus payments is about USD111 million.
The ACG oil fields are located in the Caspian Sea, approximately 100 kilometers east of Baku, the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The ACG oil fields currently produce crude oil at a rate of approximately 585,000 barrels per day (average rate for first half of 2017) from three oil fields (Azeri Oil Field, Chirag Oil Field and Deep water portion of Gunashli Oil Field). Crude oil produced at the ACG oil fields is transported through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC pipeline) to Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast of the Republic of Turkey, from where it is shipped to customers.
The existing ACG PSA was signed on 20th September 1994 for thirty years. There is substantial amount of remaining oil and gas in the field and the PSA extension will benefit Azerbaijan and partners through sustained long term production. ONGC Videsh had acquired 2.7213% participating interest in the ACG PSA and 2.36% in BTC Pipeline from Hess Corporation on 28th March, 2013.
The annual Senior Executive Committee Meeting of minority shareholders of Project Petro Carabobo, Venezuela was held recently in the office of ONGC Videsh, New Delhi. The senior executives of the minority shareholder partners namely ONGC Videsh, Repsol, Indian Oil Corporation and Oil India deliberated on the project performance, strategic plans and way forward for the project PetroCarabobo which is at present in early stages of project development.
Director (Operations), ONGC Videsh chairing the SEC Meeting at New Delhi
ONGC Videsh in consortium with Spain Major – Repsol, holds 11% each and Indian Oil Corporation and Oil India Limited hold 3.5% each in the Project, rest being held by majority partner PdVSA, the National Oil Company of Venezuela. The contract was signed on 12th May 2010 for 25 years which is extendable by another 15 years. In accordance with the contract, the minority partners have set up a service company – Carabobo Ingenieria y Construcciones s.aS.A. (“CICSA”) in Venezuela. The contract mandates that CICSA has to carry out certain activities related to construction of upstream and downstream facilities and also arrange for the project finance with the approval of PetroCarabobo.
After taking over the lead role of Minority Shareholders coordinatorship in the project in July 2016 from Repsol, ONGC Videsh organised this 8th Senior Executive Committee Meeting in its office at New Delhi. The day long meeting was attended by Mr. P.K.Rao, Director (Ops), Mr. Sukant Tiwari, Regional President-Venezuela and project team from ONGC Videsh; Mr. Luis Cabra, Executive Managing Director (E&P), Mr. Evandro Correo, Executive Director – Latin America & Mr. Jose Maria Moreno, Country Manager – Venezuela from Repsol ; Mr. B. Roy, Director (HR & BD), Oil India & Mr. G.K. Satish, Director (P & BD), Indian Oil along with their project officials.
The Senior Executive Committee (SEC) members took stock of the current developments in the project and pondered over the challenges being faced in the Joint Venture due to the geo-political and financial constraints in the country at the moment. The SEC was unanimous in its positive approach for enabling the project overcome its difficulties that were challenging but not insurmountable. Many out-of- the-box ideas were considered by the SEC to take the project forward and at the end of the day it was an excellent exercise in bringing bonhomie among the minority partners with the issues tackled considerabely at the senior level.
Officials attending the 8th Senior Executive Committee Meeting
Mr. P.K.Rao, Director (Ops) complimented Team Venezuela for their persistent efforts in a challenging environment. He emphasised that Team Venezuela should be focussed in planning and implementation of strategic initiatives for future growth of the project.
ONGBV has celebrated India’s 71st Independence Day in Khartoum, Sudan on 15.8.2017 with full zeal and enthusiasm. ONGBV Country Manager, Sudan hoisted the Indian National Flag at 7.15 am amid National Anthem sung by all expats. The Independence Day celebration was attended by National Employees too.
Mr. V. Vidyasagar, Country Manager, ONGBV hoisting National Flag in Khartoum, Sudan
ONGBV Expats showing Patriotism
Country Manager addressed the gathering and highlighted the sacrifices of freedom fighters for Independence of India. He also emphasized that all ONGBV employees should discharge their duties diligently and efficiently. In the end, he distributed the sweets to all employees.
Participation of National Employees of Sudan in Indian Independence Day celebration
Country Manager, Sudan distributing sweets to National Employees
CMD, ONGC’s trophy and Commendation Runner-up Certificate for Best performing Asset of ONGC Videsh was conferred on Block Sakhalin 1 of Russia and A1 & A3 of Myanmar respectively on the Independence Day ceremony at Dehradun. The Certificate is being presented to Mr Sudhir Sharma, Director Exploration, ONGC Videsh by Mr Ajeet Deshwal, ED, Regional President, Asia Pacific Region along with his team.
ONGC Videsh to acquire 30% participating interest in Petroleum Exploration License 0037 Offshore Namibia
New Delhi : ONGC Videsh has signed definitive binding agreements with Tullow Namibia Limited (Tullow), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tullow Oil plc, on 28th June 2017 for acquiring 30% participating interest in Namibia Petroleum Exploration License 0037 for Blocks 2112A, 2012B and 2113B and related agreements (License) out of Tullow’s existing participating interest of 65% in the License. Pancontinental Namibia (Pty) Limited with 30% Participating interest and Paragon Oil and Gas (Pty) Limited with 5% participating interest are other partners in the License. Tullow is the operator of the License and shall continue to remain operator after acquisition by ONGC Videsh. The acquisition is subject to satisfaction of customary conditions precedents including approvals of Namibian regulatory authorities and joint venture partners.
The completion of the present transaction would mark ONGC Videsh entry in Namibian offshore and is consistent with its strategic objective of adding high impact exploration and production assets to its existing E&P portfolio.
About ONGC Videsh
ONGC Videsh is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), the National Oil Company of India, and is India’s largest international oil and gas E&P Company. At present, ONGC Videsh has 38 projects in 17 countries including Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Mozambique, Myanmar, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, Venezuela, Vietnam and New Zealand. ONGC Videsh is currently producing about 285,000 barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas per day and has total oil and gas reserves (2P) of about 704 MMTOE as on 1st April, 2017. For more information visit: https://www.ongcvidesh.com
About ONGC
ONGC’s market capitalization as on 30th June 2017 was INR 2,019 billion (US$ 31.25 billion). During the financial year ended 31st March, 2017, ONGC Group had produced 61.60 MMT of oil and oil equivalent gas (MMTOE) (approx. 1.23 MMboe per day); the Consolidated Gross Turnover was INR 1,421 billion (US$ 21 billion) during FY’17 and total consolidated oil and gas reserves were 1,818 MMTOE as on 31st March 2017. For more information visit: http://www.ongcindia.com